


Solliciti

by MilayaMilenZeal



Series: Long Live the Queen [21]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Anxiety, Crossdressing, Hunting, M/M, Past-Promptis, Post-Game(s), Prompto is a protective mother hen, Prompto worries too much, Secrets unraveled
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 05:08:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10734759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilayaMilenZeal/pseuds/MilayaMilenZeal
Summary: M.E. 785He knows that worry is nothing new; knows it’s expected, especially when you’re taking care of a little girl. However, the bigger they grow, the bigger the worries become…





	Solliciti

Prompto is a worrywart. Everyone who knew him knows this. He often worries about silly little things all the time, as does everyone, but there are so many instances where he worries _too_ much. His origins had been one of such things he’d worried about since childhood, and then there was his appearance when it came to approaching Noct, he’d worried about their relationship when Noct’s betrothal to Luna was announced, and he’d been worried sick for Noct’s mental health when they learned Insomnia had fallen.

As fun and nice as that road trip had been, it’d been filled with worries and Prompto just couldn’t stop worrying.

And that hasn’t lessened since Regina came into his care. Hell, if anything, it’s only gotten worse, even if he doesn’t always realize it.

Now, though, he’s almost hyper aware of it…

 

“Are you sure you have enough clothes for the road, princess?”

“ _Daaaad!_ C’mon; this isn’t my first camping trip, okay?”

“I know, I know… Did you pack the lotion?”

“Ugh… _yes_ , Dad, I packed like two bottles.”

“Sunscreen?”

“I’m not going to the beach, Dad! I’m going camping in Duscae! Six, I’ll be lucky to get a _sliver_ of sunlight there!”

“Okay, okay...” Prompto hesitates with asking the next question, but he knows it won’t leave him be otherwise. So it’s with slight embarrassment that he asks: “Did you at least pack some protection?”

“Protection from wha… _DAD!!_ ” Regina’s cheeks are burning red as she catches on to what he means. “For the love of—I’m not going to— _argh!_ I am so _done!_ ”

She slings her bag over her back, cheeks still red as she almost scampers out.

“Princess—”

“ _I got everything, alright?!_ ”

Prompto sighs as he follows her downstairs and out the door, where she gets out her Chocobo whistle and blows it to summon her Black Chocobo—Dia, she called him—after which she hops on. He knows teens will always be teens, but he’d never expected it to be this hard to deal with one that was just coming into adulthood. Regina would be turning 18 this year, meaning she would soon no longer be classified as a ‘child’, or even a ‘teenager’.

And why does that thought hurt so much…?

“Regina!” he calls to her before she can take off.

She groans and turns to him. “ _What?!_ ”

He doesn’t answer immediately as he walks closer and then takes her hand. “Take care, okay?”

Her anger and annoyance fades almost immediately and her scowl dissipates. She sighs softly, but she nods her head quietly. “I will, Dad. Promise.”

“Okay,” he says, gently squeezing her hand. “Then… have fun, princess. I love you.”

And then Regina smiles and she leans forward and down, and Prompto laughs as he leans up and they kiss each other on the cheek. “Love you, too, Dad. I’ll see you in about a week.”

He smiles back at her and lets go of her hand. She adjusts her position briefly, and then kicks out her feet and Dia squawks before taking off at a run immediately. Regina looks back and waves with a smile/grin, and Prompto waves her goodbye until she’s disappeared from his sight.

And then he sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

‘ _And now the worrying begins…_ ’

 

Prompto tries to keep himself occupied, because it helps in keeping the worry out. It doesn’t help much this time, though, and he doesn’t understand why. Regina was right; this wasn’t her first camping trip, and she’s always been fine after them before, so why would she not be now?

But for some reason he continues to feel anxious about his daughter’s whereabouts, whether she’s eating okay, whether she’ll catch a cold out in Duscae if it decides to rain…

By the second day, he keeps screaming at himself and saying that it’s stupid to worry and that he needs to focus on other things. And by the Six, he _tries_ , but all his working around the house does is remind him of how _empty_ the house is now. And then Prompto realizes he needs to get out of the house and do _something_. So he calls up Ignis and Gladio and tells them he needs something to do, at least for the day.

They agree to join him and they travel up to the Cauthess Rest Area, because Gladio mentions that he spotted a hunt there last time for a Molokujata and Prompto remembers that beast from their time on the road all those years ago, remembers the trouble that thing gave them despite their thorough preparations. He’s not really looking forward to it, but on the other hand, it’ll give him something else to worry about rather than his daughter.

They get there by midday, and while Prompto moves to both fill up the car, coz they were running low on gas—sometimes he wishes for some sort of engine that just did _away_ with the constant refueling—Gladio and Ignis go inside to get the hunt details. He’s not expecting it to take long, so he’s a bit surprised when they don’t come back out after about a minute, so he goes to check what the problem is.

When he walks over, the first thing he asks is, understandably: “Hey guys, what’s the holdup?”

Gladio, for some reason, seems hesitant to talk about what’s up, so it’s up to Ignis to explain. “It seems someone’s come and taken on the hunt before us already.”

“Oh…” Prompto’s not sure what to think of that. Sure, it means they don’t have to worry about it much longer, but at the same time they don’t really have a good hunt to put their all into. Oh sure, there are other hunts, but it’s the big ones that keep him the most engaged, which was why he’d been okay with dealing with the Molokujata with his two buds. “Well that sucks. And I guess they already left, huh?”

“Only just, actually,” Ignis pointed out, and Prompto blinks. “It seems they took the hunt just before we arrived.”

“Ah.” Interesting… so that meant they’d still be close by? He’s not sure if these hunters would be traveling by car, Chocobo or would decide to leg it, as most hunters had seemed prone to doing back in the day. And he wonders if, maybe, they’d be able to offer some insight in how to take it down that they might not be common knowledge to most. Because while Molokujata is a Rank 9 beast, he’s sure that any hints given would be appreciated by any hunter. “Did they already leave?”

“They have. But it seems they mentioned they required to stock up on curatives before heading out.”

“Ah, alright,” Prompto nods his head, considering his earlier thoughts again, before he asks: “You guys wanna go give them some tips on the big guy?”

Ignis has no objections, and while Gladio seems to have some misgivings about it, he eventually goes along with it and they head out of the Crow’s Nest to head for the car. There’s not a real shop at the Cauthess Rest Area, so it would make sense if the group of hunters would head for the Coernix Gas Station to stock up, which wasn’t that far away, anyway.

 

As they arrive, they don’t see any people who could resemble hunters outside, so Prompto assumes they’re still in the shop. So, after he’s parked the car, they get out and move toward the mini-mart. But as they come into range, all three of them stop in their tracks as a familiar voice calls out from by the door.

“So we’ve got enough now, don’t we?”

From the voice alone it’s hard to pinpoint a gender to the owner, but the lilt and curious hint to the phrase, accompanied by a familiar clicking against the wooden floors, is enough to give them an inkling of the identity belonging to the voice.

“I would say so, yes. I’d be shocked if we were to use up all resources on one beast.”

That voice, also, is a familiar one with its hint of regal upbringing, almost scarily similar to Iggy’s, the complete opposite of the one that follows.

“Oyoy, don’t go jinxin’ us there; next thing you know we’ll be needing every single potion we got and then some.”

Prompto’s not sure what to think now, and even less when a fourth—and _far_ too familiar—voice laughs and speaks up.

“Hey girls, c’mon; we’re kinda burning daylight here. If we’re all set we should head off before our target decides to wander off and be a bother to others.”

He tried to tell himself he was hearing things, that what he’d just heard wasn’t what he thought it was, but one look at both of his friends and that entire train of thought was derailed immediately. And then the second voice chimed in and set it on fire, as well.

“I sincerely doubt it would just run off so suddenly when it’s been stationary for so long, Regina.”

Prompto’s stomach feels like someone’s dumped ice water in it as there’s another familiar laugh as no one other than his own daughter steps out of the market, looking back as she walks and says: “Hey, you never know. Sudden shift in weather might entice him to go look for greener pastures or something.”

“I highly doubt it will,” says Libri, who’s second to follow, with Ternio close behind and then Dominatio comes running out, carrying a small bag in his hand. “Domi, what did you buy this time?”

“Oh, just some snacks for on the road~” he chirps with a merry giggle as he tucks it into a travel bag that he then tosses along his back.

“Hahaha! Still surprised ya can snack however much ya like and not gain a pound, Dom!” Terry laughs, and Domi merely sticks out his tongue at the redhead even as Regina goes over to where four multi-colored Chocobos are waiting for them eagerly, almost hopping on their talons with happy chirps.

And it’s then that Prompto spies the scabbard that rests along his daughter’s backside, carrying a sword that he’s never seen before. And a look to her friends confirms that they, too, carry a weapon of their choice with them. Terry carries a hefty polearm across her back, Libby has two scabbards attached to her thighs where she carries a pair of daggers, and Domi has two holsters that hold a pair of intricate guns.

“Alright, girls!” Regina calls as she steps up to Dia and then, with expert ease, pulls herself up into the saddle. “Let’s go!”

The others climb onto their own Chocobos and then they run off, in the direction of the Disc of Cauthess, where, Prompto knows from experience, the Molokujata would be at.

“Prompto.” Ignis’ voice snaps him out of the trance he appeared to have fallen in and he turns to the blind man in question, unable to say anything, yet. “We should follow them to ensure they do not hurt themselves.”

He’s never agreed more with Ignis.

 

They rent a pair of Chocobos of their own, with Ignis sharing with Gladio, and they hurry after the group of four. The girls have a head start, but they’re quick to catch up, and while Prompto wants to rush ahead of them to stop them, Ignis tells him that for now they should sit back and watch, until it becomes clear they need help.

Prompto isn’t sure how Ignis can even _suggest_ that! Does he not realize that his little girl’s running straight into the maws of a beast at least three times her size!?

He probably would’ve hurried on ahead of his friends, if Gladio wasn’t holding his Chocobo back by the reins. He wants to curse at them, but in the end he calms himself down and keeps up the pace they’re currently going at.

After a short trip, they stop as they realize that the four Chocobos have been left behind by a small patch of gyshal greens. The birds look up curiously for a moment, and then go right back to eating.

“They’ve likely dismounted to approach more quietly.”

Makes sense, Prompto agrees, and they do the same, leaving their Chocobos with those of the girls, before they start off toward the area where the Molokujata is at. He’s tempted to just run for it, but Ignis tell him no and that they should be careful, because anything can happen. Prompto remembers, of course, their own encounter with the beast, and how they’d nearly gotten crushed underneath it multiple times, knocked aside into boulders, and that was before the beast even tried to stomp them into the ground.

Just the thought of that beast doing that to his little girl was—

Prompto’s thoughts are swiftly interrupted by the sound of two gunshots, piercing through the air and he jumps instinctively, immediately reminded of the times they’d faced off against the multiple hordes of MT’s, until his brain supplies him with the reminder of Domi carrying a pair of handguns along his hips. Not that it completely drives the worry away, and it only makes them grow, in fact.

They move faster now, hurrying along, even though Ignis keeps saying it’s unwise to do so, but he’s hurrying just as much.

“Terry, get down from there!!” Regina’s voice suddenly shouts out.

Terry, however, is laughing at whatever it is she’s doing, before it turns into a shout of surprise when there’s a sudden heavy thud that Prompto _feels_ through the ground, and the other girls shout out their friend’s name in a bit of a panic. When Prompto is almost there and about to vault over the rock with his gun in hand, though, it’s _Gladio_ , of all people, who stops him.

“Gladio!” he hisses.

But Gladio doesn’t look at him. He’s watching the battle happening, and mutters: “Wait… look.”

Prompto isn’t sure he wants to, but he does it anyway.

The massive Molokujata is getting up to its hooves again, having rolled itself over a moment prior, no doubt, and Regina is dragging a madly cackling Terry away from the beast. “The hell were you doing, idiot!?” she’s shouting.

“What? I got his shoulder, didn’t I?” Terry laughs, before the pair splits up as the beast suddenly lunges for them.

Four gunshots follow in rapid succession, and the beast howls as it rears back with blood streaming out from under its left eye. Domi giggles and blows the smoke from his guns, being far away enough that he’s well out of range but close enough for the distance to not mess up his aim.

Libby is off to the side of the beast, her gaze snapping across its hide from top to bottom in a way that Prompto recognizes as analyzing, like how Ignis used to look over the daemons they’d fought to search for potential weak spots or even elemental weaknesses. She even adjusts her glasses briefly in a way similar to how Iggy would’ve when he had it figured out, a small smirk playing along her lips.

“He’s staggering on the left! Regi! Terry! Trip him up!”

“Aye-aye!” Regina calls out, while Terry laughs and shouts: “Will do, Libby!” before they run in.

The beast’s still got one eye closed, but by the time it opens it, Regina and Terry have already ducked underneath and then they thrust their weapons into the beast’s left hind leg, ripping through the skin and tearing through flesh as they spin around it. The Molokujata roars in agony as it tries to kick out to hit them, but they’re already gone from where they were and are now at its front leg. Regina grabs one end of Terry’s polearm and Terry holds to the other, and then, with a shared grin, they snap out the staff against its leg.

“Going down!!” Terry cackles as they hurry off and the Molokujata howls in agony as its left legs give out under its weight then and it crashes to the ground.

“ _Go go GO!!_ ” Regina is shouting with a grin on her face as they move in.

Domi reloads his guns in barely 10 seconds, and then unloads shot after shot from the weapons into its unprotected eyes, blinding it, as Terry kicks off from the ground with her polearm in hand, before she comes crashing down blade-first, burying its steel in the beast’s side before she slides down its side (blade still embedded) as it howls in agony, and then Regina and Libby are right there, the blades of Regina’s sword and Libby’s daggers tearing open the wound even further. The fur and skin splits under the combined assault, and blood and guts spills out, and this would’ve had most females that Prompto’s seen over the years squealing or screaming in repulsion or fear… and yet Regina is letting out a bark of laughter and Libby is smirking, while Terry is nearly howling with her own laughter as she buries her polearm in the Molokujata’s jaw when it tries to get up, making it open it maw and allowing Domi to shoot the vulnerable inside of its mouth, a smirk-like grin playing over the boy’s face even as he licks his lips in a way that would’ve been considered to be seductive in any other situation.

The beast howls and gargles on blood as it struggles to get up, but the group of four doesn’t allow it, their weapons ripping wounds upon wounds across its side, until, finally, it gives out a final gargling howl and it ceases to move.

Terry is laughing as she slings her spear along her shoulders, Domi is cheering and almost bouncing on his feet, while Libby is chuckling as she puts her daggers back, pulling out a handkerchief and then starting to clean her glasses, as Regina snaps her blade in half, sheathing it in its scabbard again.

“Nice!” she calls out with a laugh. “We all good?”

“Better than good~” Domi chirps with a giggle as he pockets his guns, patting them down before he almost skips over.

“Hell yeah we’re good!” Terry laughs as she slings her arms along the polearm across her shoulders. “Were you sleeping while we were fightin’ that bugger?” she teases.

“Oh shush, you,” Regina laughs back, punching her friend to her shoulder, and the older woman merely laughs.

“…Ah- _hah!_ ” Libby’s voice resounds from the Molokujata’s corpse along with the snapping of fingers and the three others look up in surprise.

“What what?” Domi asks, sounding almost worried.

However, Libby is smiling as she regards her friends, and then she speaks words that actually almost make Prompto (and Gladio as well, to be honest) choke on a snort/laugh. “I’ve come up with a new recipe.”

Her friends are laughing and/or grinning, and Regina nods her head as she says: “Nice. Can’t wait to try it.”

They then start moving to collect the “ingredients” that Libby needs for whatever recipe she has in her head, continuously jabbing at each other and laughing, pointing out that they’re covered in blood and dirt without seeming the least bit bothered by this. Once they’ve gotten what they needed, Domi pulls out a number of water bottles, passing them around and they laugh as they jokingly toast before they start downing the water, before Regina points out they should be going, before the sun sets.

Regina blows her Chocobo-whistle, and their Chocobos come running over almost immediately. They exchange a few more words as they climb on their Chocobos, before they head off, laughing and cheering and seemingly having the time of their life.

“Well, damn,” Gladio laughs once they’ve gone. “Someone’s been busy working out.”

Prompto looks at Gladio angrily, as if it’s all _Gladio’s_ fault that this has been happening and the reason why his little girl is out _hunting_ , of all things!

“It does appear they’ve found something to keep themselves busy,” Ignis is saying and now Prompto is glaring at the sandy blonde, and while he can’t see it, Prompto’s fairly certain he can _feel_ it, because the old advisor to the prince is smirking that trademark cheeky smirk of his. “You should be proud she’s already worked her way up to Hunter Rank 9 at her age.”

When Ignis says that, Prompto isn’t sure what he feels, but it’s… a strange feeling.

He knows Ignis is right; in order to hunt a Rank 9 beast, you need to _be_ at Rank 9, or they won’t even let you take on the hunt in question. Hell, they won’t even give you the general location of the target. And yet the girls had accepted a hunt for a Rank 9 beast, _legally_ , which meant they had already reached the corresponding rank needed to do so when they went to take it.

His little girl’s barely 18, and already she’s coming hauntingly close to that fabled “Alleyway Jack” rank that all hunters in their mid-twenties and early-thirties strive for. A rank that he and the others have already obtained after working for what felt like months on end. He doesn’t even remember how long it’d taken them, but it had not been easy to get that far…

But he doesn’t know why it feels so wrong… why he doesn’t actually _want_ his little girl to do this and reach that fabled rank…

 

They eventually call their own Chocobos and go back to the gas station where they’d parked the car. Prompto doesn’t feel up to driving, but he does it anyway, if only to focus on something else than his continuous worrying. Gladio and Ignis are talking while he drives, and (of course) it’s about Regina and her friends going out hunting without ever telling anyone, because neither of them have certainly heard about it before finding out about it, either from the girl herself or from her dad.

Prompto doesn’t join them in the conversation; he doesn’t feel ready for it, yet. He just stares ahead at the road and keeps his attention on where he’s going.

But then things go bad as the car jolts, splutters and then stops entirely. Prompto resists the urge to curse and hit the steering wheel, because it’s not going to help them. It’s too late to call up Cindy and ask her to tow them to Hammerhead, and they’re too far out to push the car to the nearest outpost. The sun is already starting to set, meaning the daemons will be coming out soon, and then there won’t be any people driving by who can potentially give them a lift, which, in turn, means they need to find shelter at a haven, and soon.

So they push the car off to the side of the road, so it’s not a huge bother for anyone, and then they jump over the railing to the side of the road, moving toward the nearest haven. Thankfully, it’s not that far from where they’d ended up being stranded. Thank the Six for small blessings…

But when they reach it, Prompto groans as he realizes that the haven’s already occupied. He can’t see by whom, but he’s assuming they’re hunters, too, and Prompto’s not too sure if they’d appreciate the company. While most hunters are pleasant enough to hang out with, there’s the occasional asshole in between, and he’s not feeling up to dealing with one right now.

“Damn, this sucks…” Gladio grumbles, and he looks to the horizon. The sun will be setting soon, and they still need to find shelter somewhere, but with the haven occupied…

Prompto’s about to suggest they go back to the car, maybe they can just sleep in the car until morning, but Ignis is still walking to the haven, despite his friends’ hissed cries telling him they shouldn’t interrupt. But Ignis isn’t listening as he steps up, and then calls out suddenly.

“Good evening, ladies,” he calls, and the buzzing chatter that Prompto’d picked up as they were approaching dies down almost immediately. “Would you mind if we join you tonight?”

Prompto’s not sure what Ignis is talking about immediately, but shortly after, someone comes walking over to the edge of the haven… and his breath hitches in his throat.

“Iggy? What are you—Dad? Gladio?? …Oh! Were you guys out hunting?” Regina asks, her look of surprise shifting into one of amusement.

“Correct,” Ignis offers. “Unfortunately, your father’s car has given up the ghost again.” Prompto glares at the back of Ignis’ head, but he says nothing; there’s no denying that it happened just as Iggy said it had.

“ _Again?_ Damn…” Regina chuckles out. “Well, can’t have you walking the dark with daemons out, eh? C’mon up!”

“You have our thanks, Regina,” Ignis says politely, and he holds out a hand, and Regina’s quick to help him up the haven easily.

Prompto takes a heavy breath, even as Gladio laughs softly and easily climbs onto the haven as well. He follows last, walking up the small ramp rather than jumping up or asking for assistance. When Regina’s friends greet him, he offers a greeting in return, hoping he doesn’t sound too strained. None of the girls show any signs of having been out on a hunt that could’ve easily killed them if they’d been any less experienced than they obviously were.

Libby is over by their little “kitchen”, casually alternating between stirring in a pot and flipping pieces of meat in a frying pan, a book resting off to the side while she works. She doesn’t seem the least bit worried or even remotely surprised to see them there.

Terry is over by the fire, performing a number of different exercises to keep herself in shape, though that’s really not necessary, and Gladio’s quick to join her. In fact, after a little bit, the two drop down to the floor and start a small contest of who can do the most pushups in a minute.

Domi is giggling from where he’s sitting in his chair, sketchpad across his lap and a pencil in his hand as he works on sketching something as he occasionally looks up at… well, whatever he’s drawing. He offers a smile and a pleasant wave as Prompto walks over, and the blonde offers a greeting of his own in return.

And Regina is off to the side, working on her camera and humming as she does, while occasionally snapping a picture of her friends, who don’t bother with the “intrusion” and often take a moment to pose for her pictures. When Prompto steps up to her, she looks up with a smile and asks him to look over her pictures and see how she did, and he’s finally able to smile as he takes a seat with her around the fire on the other side where Terry and Gladio are still going at it.

Her pictures are very general, really; there aren’t any pictures of, say, any fighting they may’ve done, but as he thinks of that he wonders if, maybe, she has a different memory card for that. He doesn’t know if he should ask about it, and he worries about what answer he’ll get when he does, so in the end, he doesn’t even bother. But as he sits there, he swears he can actually smell the stench of blood sticking to his little girl.

When the sun finally sets, Libby exclaims that dinner’s ready, and everyone gathers around the fire as she starts handing out plates for everyone. The brunette had clearly adapted quickly to the fact that there would be three extra mouths to feed, and Prompto’s not about to question how she did that so quickly.

As Prompto takes the first bite, he immediately recognizes the taste of the meat as that of Kujata marrow and he feels his stomach twist in an uncomfortable knot, but Ignis hums in appreciation and compliments Libby on her cooking. The brunette gives her thanks as calmly as Ignis himself would when his cooking is complimented, and maybe that’s why Iggy and her can get along so well. In fact, Gladio once joked that, if they didn’t know any better, they’d swear the two were somehow related, and he does so now, as well.

The girls are chatting and laughing as they talk about their day, conveniently not mentioning their hunting trip, and Prompto isn’t sure if they’d agreed to this ahead of time, or if this was just normal for them to simply not mention their hunts once they finish a day of hunting. He doesn’t know how they’d manage that; he certainly wouldn’t be able to…

“So, hey… are you guys gonna set up a tent, too?” Terry suddenly asks, her fork halfway in her mouth, still. “Might be a tight fit, yanno?”

“Hm, you have a point…” Ignis murmurs softly. “Plus, with the sun having gone already, it would be quite difficult to set it up properly.”

Regina rolls her eyes briefly, before she says with a snort: “Then we’ll share. Problem solved.”

“Wait share?!” Domi yelps, obviously startled. “But… is-is that even going to fit?”

Libby hums in thought, as she pushes up her glasses. “It might require a bit of careful positioning, but I doubt it would be impossible.”

Regina smiles cheekily at the words, and Domi eventually agrees as well that this is the best solution for their current situation. Terry has no objections, either, and so, once they’ve all finished their dinner and have set away the dishes, they clamber into the tent one by one.

The girls (including Domi) take one side of the tent, with the guys taking the other side. Once everyone’s tucked in with the tent closed off to keep the bugs and cold out, the group spends only a little longer to talk as they get themselves comfortable.

Gladio is joking about the girls gossiping until well beyond midnight, keeping everyone awake, but Libby is quick to quiet him as she removes her glasses and tucks them away for the night, saying that _he_ is the one keeping everyone up, before she moves to rest her head against Regina’s shoulder. And her friend is snorting sleepily as she briefly adjusts her arm to tug Libby closer, but she gives no other indication of being awake. Domi is already asleep, half-curled up along Regina’s stomach, as he rests between her and Terry, the latter of which has an arm under Regina’s head while the other is settled along Domi’s shoulders.

And then, as the silence descends upon them, Prompto soon realizes he’s the only one left awake. And he spends that time just watching the group of four on the other side of the tent. More specifically, he watches Regina as she sleeps amongst her friends. She seems so perfectly at ease there, and he’s not sure why, but that hurts… bad…

It isn’t until the morning comes that he realizes what the feeling is…

_Loss…_

 

Prompto’s up before anyone else, which isn’t anything new, really, since he would often go running around the haven a few times to keep his routine up. But for once, he isn’t up to go out on a run.

Instead, he’s sitting on a chair, silently staring at the screen of his own camera. He’s going through old pictures of Regina, watching through the images on screen just how much she’s changed over the years. When he watches is all in a slideshow like he is, it really does hit home just how fast the years just flew by.

He can still remember the very moment he found Regina on the edge of the Crown City, crying and alone, almost 18 years ago now, and remembers when he’d finally gathered up enough courage to admit to his friends that he was keeping her and planning to raise her as his own. Of course there’d been some concerns, because, hell, what did he know of raising a kid? And a baby at that?

The answer was, of course, very little, but he definitely devoted and determined to not let it drag him down. And he likes to think he’s done a good job with how Regina’s turned out now.

And yet, as he goes through all the pictures in chronological order, that feeling of loss once more hits him dead center in the chest and doesn’t leave him alone. And as he sits there, he realizes why it hits him so hard…

His little girl isn’t so little anymore… she’s about to cross the threshold into adulthood, and that’s the point where he, as parent, has to let her go. To let her go into the world and be her own person. She can’t be his precious little girl in need of protection forever, and he knows this… _has_ known it for ages… but now it’s here, finally and… the thought of losing his precious princess…

…it hurts…

…a lot…

“…Dad?”

Prompto jumps in surprise and almost drops his camera, as he whips around to face his daughter as she steps up slowly, a hesitant, worried look on her face. Her hair is _all over_ the place – bed hair, which makes him want to chuckle, but he holds it back – and she still looks tired, but at the same time she’s as awake as she’s going to be at 6 in the morning.

“O-oh hey, sweetie,” he says, trying to sound as enthusiastic as he can, like she’s used to. He doesn’t want to give off the impression that he isn’t happy to see her. Like seeing her doesn’t cause him such pain… “Sorry, did I wake you?”

She doesn’t answer him immediately. Instead, she walks over and drags one of the chairs over so she can plop down next to him. But even then, she doesn’t actually say anything yet. Instead, she spends a few moments just looking at the remains of their campfire, and Prompto supposes that’s fine; he’s not feeling entirely up to dealing with the issue of discussing this with her, just yet.

“…did I do something wrong?” she asks, just as he’s turned to the campfire as well and he blinks and looks back to her. She’s fiddling with the hem of her sleep shirt, nervous and obviously concerned that something’s wrong.

“Wha…? No, no sweetie, of course not,” he assures her, scooting a little closer and placing his arm around her shoulders. He pulls her close and she lets him, and even lets her head rest on his shoulder. It feels right to do so… it’s _always_ felt right, and now even more so as he knows that this feeling will, inevitably, come to an end… and soon. He shakes it away as he focuses instead on the here and now. “No, sweetie, you haven’t done anything wrong. Why do you think you have?”

“…just…”

She starts the sentence but doesn’t finish, as she fumbles for the correct words to use. It’s almost scary how much she resembles Noct sometimes; he was just as hesitant about speaking up about his feelings, unused to people caring to listen for reasons other than being privy to his inner most thoughts. And while Regina doesn’t have the added trouble of a royal status, she was popular enough amongst kids her own age in Lestallum that it had indeed been scarily similar to Noct during high school, or even middle school.

And just like Noct, she wasn’t very keen about opening up to people. Even with the people she cared a great deal about, there would always be times where she just wouldn’t know what to say or how. He always told her to be honest and open with her friends, to trust them with the things she holds in her heart, and he knows that she tries. She tries _very_ hard… it’s just hard for her.

“I dunno… I… I just felt… like you didn’t want to be here… with me…”

She could’ve easily said “with us” and downplayed the whole thing, but it’s clear she doesn’t want that. She wants the matter resolved, and fast, he can tell.

“Oh sweetheart… of course I do,” he assures her, moving her bangs aside and kissing her to her temple. This always helped to calm her down, and helped ease whatever worries she had. Or at least, it had when she’d been younger. He curses his thoughts for betraying him, and hopes it doesn’t show on his face. “It’s just been a rough day… and the car not working with us didn’t help any. It’s just a series of unfortunate events, really.”

She nods her head, but he’s not sure if she’s entirely convinced. Either way, she doesn’t say anything else for a long time. So he doesn’t say anything in return, and just holds her close, rubbing her shoulder softly to offer her the mental support she’s clearly searching for.

And that’s fine… because he still doesn’t want to let her go…

“…How _old_ was I there?”

He blinks at the sudden question, before he notices where her gaze is drawn and he smiles as he brings up the camera. “Here? You were eleven years young, there. That was your first catch with your own rod, remember?”

“Oh yeah… damn, how’d my face _not_ get stuck like that?”

“Haha! I don’t know, princess. Your Father’s often asked me the same thing, and all I can say is that it just doesn’t.”

She laughs (softly, the others are still sleeping), and then she asks: “How many of those do you still have on there?”

“Oh a few.”

A lie; there’s more than a few, but he has a feeling she knows, too. And her smile tells her that she definitely does know, but she doesn’t point it out.

He shows her several more pictures, and they’re laughing and chuckling softly as they recount the memories they’ve had over the years. He doesn’t know if she feels the same as he does about how fast time has passed them by, but he doesn’t let it bother him… much.

His pictures of her eventually end, because the majority he’s saved on a bigger drive, for safe keeping. He knows the rest are just pictures he took during hunts, and while he doesn’t take them as regularly as he used to back in the day, there’s no denying he still had it in him to take the shots he wanted to make. And Regina is watching those shots in slight awe.

“Wow…! How did Iggy dodge that?” she asked as she watched the picture of one of the more recent hunts where Ignis had just barely dodged a Sabertusk lunging for him.

“I’m not sure, but I’ve decided long ago to not question how he does anything without seeing anything.”

Regina nods her head quietly, but she doesn’t say anything. As he watches her from the corner of his eyes, he wonders if, maybe, he can get her to admit that she’s actually going on hunts, too… but Prompto knows he’s far from subtle, and he knows he’d never be able to bring it up like that…

“…So,” he murmurs after a moment, deciding to just blunt, “how did your pictures turn out?”

She flinches sharply at the question, and while she doesn’t look up, he can tell her eyes are wide in alarm. She’s barely breathing, and from the way her hands are clenched, he knows that she knows that he knows…

“Um… u-uh I…”

“Good mornin’!” comes a shout suddenly, making them both look over as Terry comes out from the tent, followed closely by Gladio. “Why’re you two up so early?”

Regina bites her lip for a moment, looks at Prompto swiftly, and he nods at her before she says: “No reason, really.”

Terry seems unconvinced, but she thankfully doesn’t question it, and Gladio doesn’t either. Terry pulls Regina away into running a few laps with them, and she doesn’t really get the chance to object to it. As she’s dragged along by her friend and Gladio, stumbling along, Prompto merely smiles slightly as he watches her go.

“Good mor— _yaaawn_ —morning, Mr. Argentum,” says a familiar voice and Prompto blinks before he smiles and turns to Domi, who’s lazily rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Morning, Domi,” he returns, before he adds, “also, you don’t have to keep being so formal, you know?”

“Huh, wha…? …oh, right…”

Prompto laughs at the lazy response as Domi plops himself down in a chair, just as Libby and Ignis walk out from the tent as well.

“Morning,” Iggy says, while Libby hums out a quiet greeting, wide awake already as Prompto returns his friend’s greeting.

“Mmm… why are we up so early again?” Domi asks as Ignis moves over to the kitchenette with Libby.

“Because we need to make tracks to reach our next target, Domi,” Libby says with an of casualty even as she moves to help Ignis find some of the ingredients they have at their disposal.

“Oh ye—Ah! Libby! W-we weren’t supposed to—” Domi starts, and Prompto realizes then with a jolt that, yes, they had intended to keep this a secret from them.

“I fail to see the point now; the cat has already been released from its bag, so why continue to pretend it isn’t there?” Libby points out, as if it’s the most logical thing in the world.

Ignis is chuckling as he says: “So you’ve already figured us out, hm?”

“It struck me as a little _too_ convenient that you just so happened to be in the area where we had been… plus, you asked about our hunt as well, so it was brought up by the tipster, too.”

“Hmm, well-played.”

Domi continues to look at the others with a hint of uncertainty, but he doesn’t bring it up again. Even when Regina, Terry and Gladio return, he doesn’t mention it. But the conversation still happens regardless.

“Regina,” Libby calls out once the girl’s collected her breath from all her running. And when she has her attention after she plops into the chair she’d vacated earlier, she asks simply: “Do you have a lock on our next target?”

Regina tenses at the question, and Prompto can see Terry giving Libby a curious look for about three seconds before she grins. “Yeah, weren’t those Veetooth things supposed to show up around here?”

At that, Regina blinks, before she groans heavily. “ _Varetooth_ , Ter. Can you at least try to remember the names, please?”

“Bah. Same difference,” Terry quips with a wave of her hand, much to everyone’s amusement.

“Why do I bother?” Regina asks with a small shake of her head, before she pulls out her phone and swipes across it quickly, tapping a few times. “…Anyway, should be coming up soon. Guess we should be getting ready, huh?”

“Perhaps that would be smart, yes.”

Prompto resists the urge to bit his lip. He doesn’t want to think on it, doesn’t want to say anything in response to Libby’s words, even as the girls get up to get ready and to break up camp. He doesn’t want to think about how his little girl is just… walking away…

“U-um… Actually, Regi?”

Regina hums as she looks over from where she’d been tugging on her jacket. “Yeah, ‘sup, Domi?”

“Well, didn’t Mr. Hester say there was a significant amount of them this time? Wouldn’t it be… I don’t know… better if we… went together…?”

Silence falls over them for a few moments, in which the other girls look at each other in silent question, before Regina smirks. “I suppose you got a point, Domi… but how ‘bout we spice it up a bit?”

Prompto blinks in surprise, and Gladio’s staring, while Ignis hums in question, but Terry laughs as she seems to catch on. “Ooooh, thinking of making it a contest, eh, Regi?”

“Well why not?” Regina offers, before her smirk grows. “That is, of course, if the other party’s not _scared_ …”

Gladio catches on to the challenge immediately and he’s grinning almost as widely as Terry. “Oh really? And just what kind of challenge are you thinking about, huh girly?”

Regina’s less than thrilled about the nickname, and it shows, but she shoves it aside almost immediately. “Well…” she starts as she leans forward on the back of the chair she’d just vacated, “how ‘bout we see who can take out the most Vareteeth—or whatever the plural of that is—before the day’s up, eh?”

Gladio laughs at that, because, really, that’s something he used to do with Noct when they were up against the MT’s, anyway, and he says with a grin: “Sounds good, but how ‘bout we up the stakes a little more, huh?”

“Oh?” Regina quips with a raised eyebrow as she leans her head on her fist in a way that’s almost hauntingly similar to how Noct would show/feign interest. “And what do you suggest, huh, _Gladdy_?” she asks with a cheeky smirk.

And, of course, Gladio doesn’t miss a beat. “Let’s make it a simple one for now; losers buy the winners dinner at Galdin. How ‘bout that?”

Terry is oohing at that and Domi is staring, because they all know Galdin is almost crazily expensive, while Libby is frowning and likely already calculating how much this would set them back if they were to lose, but Regina merely smirks with a chuckle.

“You’re on, big guy,” she says then.

 

“You realize you needn’t be so worried, correct?”

Iggy’s words as they’re waiting for Cindy to come tow his car to Hammerhead come as a surprise. The girls are off to the side, well out of range of the conversation and seemingly discussing some strategies about their next hunt with each other. Gladio doesn’t appear to be listening from where he’s leaning up against the car on the other side, but Prompto still worries about it.

“Worry about what?” he asks after a moment, still confused and curious as to how Ignis can just _know_ what’s on one’s mind without actually seeing them.

“About Regina. Just because she is becoming an adult, that does not mean she is drifting away.”

Again, _how does he do that?!_

“…what do you mean?”

“Think about it, Prompto,” Ignis says with a smile. “Now that she’s older, all that’s happened is that there’s more things you can share together. I sincerely doubt she would consider leaving the way you fear she will.” Prompto flinches, and he’s sure Ignis can’t see it, but he feels like Ignis still knows! “It will all work out fine. I assure you.”

Prompto isn’t so sure, but when he looks over to Regina, it’s just in time to see her looking over to him. He’s not sure what kind of expression she has on her face, but then she’s smirking and she mouths something, slowly, so that he can read her lips. And he gawks a little at her gall.

“ _I’m gonna beat you~_ ”

After a moment of thought, though, he smirks right back and mouths back to her, and her smirk grows from her amusement..

“ _In your dreams, princess._ ”

When Cindy arrives to pick up the car, Prompto assures her that he’ll come pick it up later. And then they were off, laughing and crowing as they race along the land of Duscae toward their destination, and as Regina challenges him to a race down a long strip of open road, Prompto finally realizes what it is what Ignis had meant.

Rather than growing apart like he had feared, they were only growing closer together. And yes, he knows there will be a day that she will have to move out to live on her own, but even then, he’s sure they’ll be fine, no matter what.

And so he merely laughs as he rushes past his daughter, shouting out in response to her startled cry: “See ya, slowpoke!”

And his (not so) little girl merely laughs and chases after him again.


End file.
